Current Affairs
September 14, 2021
Houston Port Update
Port Houston to close terminals to prepare for Tropical Storm Nicholas
Flash flooding, storm surge, tornadoes possible across Texas Gulf Coast
Noi MahoneyMonday, September 13, 2021 1 minute read
Port Houston will close its container terminals in preparation for Tropical Storm Nicholas, which is expected to produce a significant flooding threat around the greater Houston area.
The Bayport, Barbours Cut and Turning Basin container terminals will cease ingate operations at 3 p.m. Monday, the port announced on its website.
“Multi-purpose facilities will continue operating at normal hours [Monday],” port officials said in a statement. “We are continuing to monitor conditions and will communicate about a possible noon Tuesday reopening.”
The Port of Corpus Christi and the Port of Freeport remain open at this time.
As of 1:45 p.m. ET on Monday, Tropical Storm Nicholas was centered 55 miles northeast of the Texas-Mexico border, heading north at 12 mph.
Tropical Storm Nicholas could bring flash flooding, a storm surge and tornadoes across the Texas Gulf Coast. The storm could bring 8 to 16 inches of rain and wind gusts of up to 70 mph.
The Texas coast is under a tropical storm warning, with a hurricane watch from Corpus Christi to Galveston. A storm surge warning covers the area north of Corpus Christi, to Galveston and all the way to the Texas-Louisiana border.
Landfall is expected to occur in the vicinity of Matagorda Bay Monday afternoon or evening. Matagorda Bay is about 108 miles southwest of Houston and 80 miles northeast of Corpus Christi.
Click for more FreightWaves articles by Noi Mahoney.
September 14, 2021
Houston Port Update
Port Houston to close terminals to prepare for Tropical Storm Nicholas
Flash flooding, storm surge, tornadoes possible across Texas Gulf Coast
Noi MahoneyMonday, September 13, 2021 1 minute read
Port Houston will close its container terminals in preparation for Tropical Storm Nicholas, which is expected to produce a significant flooding threat around the greater Houston area.
The Bayport, Barbours Cut and Turning Basin container terminals will cease ingate operations at 3 p.m. Monday, the port announced on its website.
“Multi-purpose facilities will continue operating at normal hours [Monday],” port officials said in a statement. “We are continuing to monitor conditions and will communicate about a possible noon Tuesday reopening.”
The Port of Corpus Christi and the Port of Freeport remain open at this time.
As of 1:45 p.m. ET on Monday, Tropical Storm Nicholas was centered 55 miles northeast of the Texas-Mexico border, heading north at 12 mph.
Tropical Storm Nicholas could bring flash flooding, a storm surge and tornadoes across the Texas Gulf Coast. The storm could bring 8 to 16 inches of rain and wind gusts of up to 70 mph.
The Texas coast is under a tropical storm warning, with a hurricane watch from Corpus Christi to Galveston. A storm surge warning covers the area north of Corpus Christi, to Galveston and all the way to the Texas-Louisiana border.
Landfall is expected to occur in the vicinity of Matagorda Bay Monday afternoon or evening. Matagorda Bay is about 108 miles southwest of Houston and 80 miles northeast of Corpus Christi.
Click for more FreightWaves articles by Noi Mahoney.
September 14, 2021
Hurricane Nicholas Update
Tropical Storm Nicholas could strengthen into hurricane before reaching Texas coast
Author: Janet Miranda
2021/09/13
HOUSTON (ICIS)–Tropical Storm Nicholas continues to strengthen as it moves towards the Texas coast and could be near hurricane strength before reaching the Texas coast late Monday, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC).
The tropical storm is located about 85 miles (137 km) south-southwest of Matagorda, Texas. Maximum sustained winds have increased to 65 miles/hour (105 km/hour).
Nicholas is moving towards the north-northeast and it is forecasted to keep moving in this direction through tonight. Strengthening is expected in the meantime, although the storm should weaken by Tuesday and Wednesday as it moves inland.
The following map shows the forecasted path of the storm.
Source: NHC
Nicholas is expected to produce high winds, heavy rains and the possibility of storm surges across the impacted region.
About 6 to 12 inches of rain is expected, with isolated amounts up to 18 inches across portions of the Texas coast.
Interior southeast Texas is forecasted to see totals of 4 to 8 inches, with localised flooding reaching up to 10 inches through Thursday.
Life-threatening flash floods could occur in metropolitan areas across the upper Texas Gulf Coast and in southwestern Louisiana, the NHC said.
Tropical Storm Nicholas could disrupt operations at several chemical plants, refineries and terminals that export oil, fuel and natural gas liquids (NGL) in the Texas coast.
US liquefied natural gas (LNG) production did not appear to be immediately threatened, as feedgas to Freeport LNG and Corpus Christi in Texas remained stable from the previous day for 13 September.
Daylight-only transits were advised by Sabine pilots on 13 September, as two loadings took place from Cheniere’s Sabine Pass in Cameron Parish, Louisiana.
Two LNG vessels were in port at Freeport LNG by mid-day and another vessel was loading at Cameron LNG on 13 September.
Nicholas comes 15 days after Hurricane Ida made landfall in neighbouring Louisiana.
The hurricane caused a large reduction in the production of US Gulf offshore oil and natural gas due to damage to key ports in southeastern Louisiana and equipment for offshore production.
Hurricane Ida winds and rainfall knocked out power in the region and caused plant outages across affected areas, further tightening key US chemicals and polymer markets, although the impact was less severe than from Winter Storm Uri.
PORT CONDITIONS
Ports in the Texas and west Louisiana gulf region are on watch as Tropical Storm Nicholas nears landfall in the area late Monday.
All shipping ports listed below remain open, with Corpus Christi and Freeport, Texas, likely to be most impacted by the storm.
- Beaumont/Port Arthur, Texas
- Corpus Christi, Texas
- Galveston, Texas
- Freeport, Texas
- Houston, Texas
- Lake Charles, Louisiana
Freeport is expected to close temporarily late evening on 13 September and reopen on 15 September, according to shipping agent GAC North America.
In Houston, the container terminals have ceased ingate operations through Tuesday morning, Port Houston said.
Additional reporting by Ruth Liao, Anna Matherne
September 14, 2021
Hurricane Nicholas Update
Tropical Storm Nicholas could strengthen into hurricane before reaching Texas coast
Author: Janet Miranda
2021/09/13
HOUSTON (ICIS)–Tropical Storm Nicholas continues to strengthen as it moves towards the Texas coast and could be near hurricane strength before reaching the Texas coast late Monday, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC).
The tropical storm is located about 85 miles (137 km) south-southwest of Matagorda, Texas. Maximum sustained winds have increased to 65 miles/hour (105 km/hour).
Nicholas is moving towards the north-northeast and it is forecasted to keep moving in this direction through tonight. Strengthening is expected in the meantime, although the storm should weaken by Tuesday and Wednesday as it moves inland.
The following map shows the forecasted path of the storm.
Source: NHC
Nicholas is expected to produce high winds, heavy rains and the possibility of storm surges across the impacted region.
About 6 to 12 inches of rain is expected, with isolated amounts up to 18 inches across portions of the Texas coast.
Interior southeast Texas is forecasted to see totals of 4 to 8 inches, with localised flooding reaching up to 10 inches through Thursday.
Life-threatening flash floods could occur in metropolitan areas across the upper Texas Gulf Coast and in southwestern Louisiana, the NHC said.
Tropical Storm Nicholas could disrupt operations at several chemical plants, refineries and terminals that export oil, fuel and natural gas liquids (NGL) in the Texas coast.
US liquefied natural gas (LNG) production did not appear to be immediately threatened, as feedgas to Freeport LNG and Corpus Christi in Texas remained stable from the previous day for 13 September.
Daylight-only transits were advised by Sabine pilots on 13 September, as two loadings took place from Cheniere’s Sabine Pass in Cameron Parish, Louisiana.
Two LNG vessels were in port at Freeport LNG by mid-day and another vessel was loading at Cameron LNG on 13 September.
Nicholas comes 15 days after Hurricane Ida made landfall in neighbouring Louisiana.
The hurricane caused a large reduction in the production of US Gulf offshore oil and natural gas due to damage to key ports in southeastern Louisiana and equipment for offshore production.
Hurricane Ida winds and rainfall knocked out power in the region and caused plant outages across affected areas, further tightening key US chemicals and polymer markets, although the impact was less severe than from Winter Storm Uri.
PORT CONDITIONS
Ports in the Texas and west Louisiana gulf region are on watch as Tropical Storm Nicholas nears landfall in the area late Monday.
All shipping ports listed below remain open, with Corpus Christi and Freeport, Texas, likely to be most impacted by the storm.
- Beaumont/Port Arthur, Texas
- Corpus Christi, Texas
- Galveston, Texas
- Freeport, Texas
- Houston, Texas
- Lake Charles, Louisiana
Freeport is expected to close temporarily late evening on 13 September and reopen on 15 September, according to shipping agent GAC North America.
In Houston, the container terminals have ceased ingate operations through Tuesday morning, Port Houston said.
Additional reporting by Ruth Liao, Anna Matherne
September 11, 2021
Coatings Overview Post Ida
Sherwin-Williams, PPG profit warnings highlight raw material challenges, Ida impact on coatings
Author: Joseph Chang
2021/09/08
NEW YORK (ICIS)–Earnings warnings from US-based coatings companies Sherwin-Williams and PPG are shining a brighter spotlight on raw material cost inflation and supply chain challenges, especially following the impact of Hurricane Ida.
Any hope for a return to normal seasonality by Q4 2021 in many product chains has been dashed by the additional supply constraints as companies struggle to start up plants.
“All we’ve seen since winter storm Uri [in mid-February] was a scramble to rebuild inventories, and the consensus was that would be complete in the third or fourth quarter. Well, this is another hit, so it’s probably going to be into 2022 before things begin to return to normal,” said Kevin Swift, chief economist at the American Chemistry Council (ACC) on an ICIS podcast.
COATINGS AND SPECIALTIES TAKE HIT
This will hit coatings and other specialty chemicals companies harder, as they source many different raw materials for the products they formulate and sell versus commodity chemicals companies, which rely on a few select feedstocks.
“Although it has yet to be fully quantified, we think Hurricane Ida likely made a difficult supply situation worse – there appears little slack in the petrochemical supply chain,” said Laurence Alexander, analyst at Jefferies, after the PPG announcement.
“We think companies such as Avient, Axalta, BASF, DuPont, 3M, Quaker Chemical, Sherwin-Williams, Trinseo and Valvoline will also likely be constrained by similar supply chain issues,” he added.
On the coatings raw materials side, as of 8 September, 58% of methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI), 35% of isopropanol (IPA), 23% of n-butanol (NBA) and 23% of glycol ethers capacity in the US remained offline in the wake of Ida, according to the ICIS Live Disruptions Tracker.
Butanediol (BDO), which is used to make polyurethane surface coatings, among many other products, also has 57% of US capacity offline.
Less impacted is key coatings raw material acrylic acid with 9% of capacity offline, and titanium dioxide (TiO2) which was not directly impacted by Ida.
| US plant status relevant to coatings as of 8 Sep | ||||
| Company | Site | Products | Status | Force Majeure |
| BASF | Geismar, Louisiana | BDO, EO, isocyanates, polyols | Expected Restart | |
| BASF | Geismar, Louisiana | BDO | Expected Restart | Declares FM |
| BASF | Geismar, Louisiana | Isocyanates, polyols | Expected Restart | Declares FM |
| Dow | Plaquemine, Louisiana | Ethylene, propylene, benzene, toluene, EO, glycol ethers, PE, PG, PO | Expected Restart | |
| Dow | Taft, Louisiana | Ethylene, propylene, acetic acid, acrylic acid, acrylates, ethanolamines, EO, glycol ethers, LLDPE, oxo-alcohols | Shutdown | |
| ExxonMobil | Baton Rouge, Louisiana | Ethylene, propylene, BD, benzene, toluene, IPA, PA, plasticizers, PE, PP, base oils | Restart | |
| Rubicon | Geismar, Louisiana | MDI, polyether polyols, aniline, nitrobenzene | Shutdown | |
| Shell | Geismar, Louisiana | EO, EG, glycol ethers, linear alcohols, linear olefins | Shutdown |
While raw material supply constraints from Ida will limit coatings production, demand is unlikely to wane and may even accelerate in the short term on rebuilding efforts following the storm, which not only hit Louisiana, but caused damage all along its path to the northeast US.
Weather forecasting service AccuWeather estimates $95bn in damage and economic loss from Ida, just under the $105bn-115bn in damage from Hurricane Rita in 2005. It would be the seventh costliest hurricane in terms of economic impact.
SHERWIN-WILLIAMS WARNING
Sherwin-Williams, the world’s largest coatings company with over $18bn in 2020 sales, on 8 September lowered Q3 sales guidance to be up or down by a low-single digit percentage over the year-ago period, versus prior guidance of up by a mid-to-high single-digit percentage.
Sherwin-Williams CEO John Morikis cited “persistent and industry-wide raw material availability issues” not improving as anticipated, hindering the company’s ability to fully meet strong demand across professional architectural and industrial coatings.
The company expects raw material availability, including from the impact of Ida, to negatively impact Q3 sales in the high-single digit percentage range. This compares with prior guidance of less than the 3.5% negative impact experienced in Q2.
“At the same time, our total cost basket, including raw materials, transportation and labour, continues to move upward,” said Morikis.
In response, the company announced a surcharge of 4% in its Americas Group, effective 20 September through year end, on top of significant pricing actions already taken.
For those watching inflation gauges, the commodity chemicals price increases from Ida will clearly flow through all the way to specialties and end products.
PPG CITES WORSENING SUPPLY DISRUPTIONS
PPG on 7 September announced it expects Q3 sales will be $225m-275m lower versus expectations at the start of Q3, citing increasing disruptions in commodity supplies, reductions in customer production due to shortages of parts such as semiconductors (impacting auto, appliances) and continuing logistics challenges worldwide.
On top of that, raw material inflation is trending higher than previously expected on the order of $60m-70m. Ida could bring additional supply chain effects, it noted.
PPG is also implementing price increases to offset elevated raw material costs and is seeking further hikes. It sees overall price increases of around 5% in Q3. The company also withdrew earnings guidance for Q3 and Q4.
Jefferies analyst Alexander slashed his 2021 earnings per share (EPS) estimate on PPG from $8.50 to $6.70 but pointed out that “with underlying fundamental demand trends likely intact and price increases underway, we expect a sharp recovery in earnings power in 2022”.
Insight article by Joseph Chang
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